The video-rental company, now owned by Dish Network, is closing its last 300 stores by early January.
By Nick Turner
Blockbuster, the video-rental company now owned by Dish Network, will close its remaining 300 U.S. stores, ending an era for a retail chain that was once a hallmark of shopping centers nationwide.
Blockbuster will shut the outlets by early January and discontinue its DVD-by-mail service by the middle of next month, Englewood, Colo.-based Dish said Wednesday in a statement. The company will keep the licensing rights to the Blockbuster brand and use it with Dish services. It also has a video-streaming product called Blockbuster On Demand.
While the chain had more than 20 stores in Jacksonville less than three years ago, it’s now down to two: one at Atlantic and Hodges boulevards and another on Old St. Augustine Road in Mandarin.